[josie531]

Hello, my husband and i would like to move to Connecticut. i was thinking Bridgeport but i have no idea where to move to. We have 3 children, 2 teenage daughters 15 & 14 and my 8 year old son. We are able to get a job anywhere because i am an LPN student and he paints, does siding, roofing, lay out rugs, masonary and prep. He is a multitasker. We are originally from NYC and then we moved upstate, Troy. I don't want to live up here for the rest of my life. I would prefer to rent and then after a year or so then i would buy a house. I need to get to know the area first. Any advice to where we should move to. I also understand that people mention that bpt is bad but if you don't mess with anybody then they won't mess with you. That's how i see it.

[trooper638]

Hi Josie,
If you are planning on renting you can get two bedroom rental units in Bridgeport starting at $795.00 per month. As for whether or not Bridgeport is a safe city, I can say that this city's crime rate has dropped tremendously from what it was a decade ago. Only you can decide what would constitute an undesireable area. Other area's are as follows again 2 BR units
Norwalk from $1200.00, Stamford from $1,100.00, Danbury from $1,000.00, and Derby/Ansonia from $750. I hope that helps you in your decision of where to look.

[JayCT]

Also note that Bridgeport schools are not very good. They have many typical urban issues found in an inner city. If you do wish to move to Bridgeport, I would recommend considering private schools partifcularly for high school . The better parts of the city are Black Rock (try to stay west of Ellsworth Street) and the North End (north of North Avenue and west of Main Street). Also nice are the Treeland (northeast corner of the city) and Bearsley Park areas (north of Boston Avenue and east of Route 8).

You may want to consider moving to neighboring Stratford. It is a nice towqn with good schools and it is more affordable than many other towns in the area. There are a coouple of areas along the Bridgeport line to be concerned about but the rest of the town is very nice. Jay

[josie531]

thank you jayct and trooper638. i will look into it. i was also thinking about the 2 colleges, i checked on mapquest that Northwestern college is about an hour away and gateway is about 35 minutes away. both girls said that they want to live at home but northwestern is nice long commute.

[josie531]

i am looking for at least a 3 bd or 4 bd. i have also checked prudentialct for rentals and i have seen 3 or 4 bedrooms houses for rent for $1400 or $1500 which is not bad, considering that in NYC we used to pay $1300 for a 3 bd apt. How are the taxes over there? Are insurances high?

[andthentherewere3]

Originally Posted by josie531

i am looking for at least a 3 bd or 4 bd. i have also checked prudentialct for rentals and i have seen 3 or 4 bedrooms houses for rent for $1400 or $1500 which is not bad, considering that in NYC we used to pay $1300 for a 3 bd apt. How are the taxes over there? Are insurances high?

I would seriously look into what kind of neighborhoods those homes are in. There are many unsafe areas in Bridgeport. Also, keep in mind that a private school will run you several thousand a year if you don't want to consider the public schools there. As for taxes, Bridgeport is rather well known for it's high taxes.

[inetlom]

If you don't like Troy, I'm not sure how much you'll like Bridgeport (for reference, I grew up in upstate NY and went to college in Fairfield, which is right next to Bridgeport--I now live in New Haven). I would say that parts of Bridgeport are worse than most parts of Troy, although the areas JayCT mentioned are probably about the same as many areas of Troy.

Taxes and insurance are probably pretty high. Bridgeport and New Haven both have a higher mill rate than surrounding areas (42.21 in New Haven vs. 29.1 in Hamden, the town directly north of us--Bridgeport's mill rate comes up on Internet searches as 42.2800). My car insurance rates seem to be higher than those of friends in other cities as there are regular auto break-ins and thefts in New Haven. I imagine the situation in Bridgeport would be similar.

[JayCT]

Also note that you will pay taxes here in Connecticut on your cars. And at that mill rate, Bridgeport would be expensive even if you rented. Jay

[josie531]

thank you to all 3 of ya. i didn't say that i didn't like Troy, it's just coming up here was temporarily. The area we are in, is pretty quiet and stuff but it's not what i had in mind. i am looking into having attractions nearby like movie theatres, real beaches, a spanish store or just a store that you don't have go a mile for it, lol. Question, what is a mill rate? and also the places that i viewed online was in Bethel, colchester,bridgewater, a couple in greenwich, enfield, groton, manchester, milford, madison and new fairfield. anything good about these places? oh and i need a walmart around,lol. We are going to take the time and visit over there. i want to be close to the NYC because of my family and my aunts are getting older and when there is an emergency, it's kind of hard to just jump in my car and take off. As in Ct, there is the metro north and takes me to the Bronx and i'm straight after that.

[josie531]

Jayct you said that we have to pay taxes on the cars, do you mean when we purchase or is this a yearly thing?